Occupy Singur movement from July 3, says CPI-M lawmaker

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Kolkata, June 26 (IANS) CPI-M lawmaker Abdur Rezzak Mollah, who had called for organising an “Occupy Singur” movement on the lines of “Occupy Wall Street” for the benefit of the unwilling farmers of the rural belt, Tuesday said he plans to start the stir from July 3.

“If everything goes well, then I have plans to launch ‘Occupy Singur’ movement from July 3. I want the Left, democratic forces to come out in support of the movement. But right now I won’t divulge my strategy,” Mollah told IANS.

The movement will be on the lines of the “Occupy Wall Street movement” that shook the entire world last year, he said.

Mollah had earlier said that the circumstances of the cases are totally different, the flavour of the movement will be same.

The veteran Communist, who was land reforms minister during the Left regime, is known as a loose cannon in political circles for his repeated out-of-turn remarks against a section of the party leadership, especially former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and former industries minister Nirupam Sen.

During his tenure as minister, Mollah had openly protested against the procedure of land acquisition in the Singur area of Hooghly district for the car plant.

On the “Occupy Singur” movement, he had said the agitation will benefit the unwilling farmers of Singur who have received nothing and are leading a tough life after losing all means of livelihood.

He said with the state government planning to go to the Supreme Court, it would take a lot of time for the case to be resolved, and there was the need to provide livelihood to the affected farmers so that they could feed their families.

Delivering a jolt to Singur’s unwilling farmers, who had opposed land acquisition for Tata Motors’ Nano project in 2006, the Calcutta High Court Friday struck down as unconstitutional the Singur Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011, which scrapped the land lease given to the automobile giant by the erstwhile Left Front regime.

The Occupy Wall Street campaign that began Sep 17 last year saw demonstrators camping out in New York’s financial district protesting against income inequality, corporate greed and the power of financial institutions.

IANS 2012-06-26 22:27:52